The national government will be making use of new technologies in the agriculture sector to attract young people to go into agribusiness and farming, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday.
The chief executive said it is also important to continuously innovate and mechanize the systems in farming to draw the youth into agriculture.
“So, these are the kinds of things that we were talking about. Also, the digitalization so that we provide good data to our farmers, the farmer leaders sa mga cooperatives,” President Marcos said during an interview with the members of the media after attending the Rice Industry Convergence Meeting in Quezon City.
“Napag-usapan din natin, speaking of new technologies, is bringing down the average age of the Filipino farmer. And to do that, again, we engage them with new technologies because they will be the ones who will operate those systems, those new technological systems. And that will make it interesting for young people to come into the sector,” the President added.
The President said the average age of Filipino farmers is around 56 to 57 years old.
The President, who also serves as the Secretary of Agriculture, said they have also discussed the digitalization of the rice sector and the consolidation of farms so that the country can take full advantage of the “economies of scale of the new technologies.”
Earlier, President Marcos approved the Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (MRIDP) aimed at achieving the highest possible rice sufficiency level through the implementation of several strategies.
He said that aside from improving the country’s agricultural production, ensuring the welfare of Filipino farmers must also be prioritized.
“Kaya natin ginagawa ito, hindi lamang para mapakain natin ang buong Pilipinas pero para pagandahin natin ang buhay ng ating mga magsasaka – disente naman ang buhay nila, mapag-aral nila ‘yung mga anak nila,” he said.
“They have a possibility to expand, to go into other economic activities, sa agriculture or not. But to give them more opportunities. That’s the whole point. As much as possible, we will support the farmers,” he added. #
